


Sugar Plums and Candied Yams

by lavachick85



Series: How Darcy Met Bucky [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: A little bit anyway, Again with the lack of USA geographical knowledge, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Brothers Are Assholes, Bucky Barnes Fluff, Did I Mention Fluff, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Fluff, Family Issues, First Meetings, Humor me people, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Insecure Darcy Lewis, James Buchanan Barnes is a gift, Meet the Family, OMC is trash, Thanksgiving, Threats of Violence, as usual, home for the holidays, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-05 23:59:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17928848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavachick85/pseuds/lavachick85
Summary: She wasn’t an insecure person, she wasn’t, but ever since they’d arrived at the boarding gate in New York the flight crew had been fawning over Bucky like he was a piece of meat, ignoring her like she was trash and her confidence had taken a bit of a hit. Their blatant disregard for her presence just because of her lack of celebrity status made her feel small and worthless, it was an ugly feeling and she didn’t like it at all. She took a shaky breath and shot him a smile that was more like a grimace. “I’m fine.”He cocked his eyebrow at her and his expression told her that he knew she was lying. “Liar.”OR;It's their first Thanksgiving together and Bucky is going home for the holidays with Darcy to meet her family for the first time. Will Mama Lewis go for the goose? Will Darcy's Grams say something terribly embarrassing and inappropriate? Will her brothers even dignify her with a 'hello, how are you? Long time no see'??Family politics are a tricky thing, honestly, and part of Darcy was terrified that introducing Bucky to her family was a bad idea that would send him running for the hills. God, this was such a terrible idea. What the hell was she thinking??





	1. First Impressions Matter (Or So They Say)

**Author's Note:**

> And so we're back!!
> 
> This part of the series is planned out to be a multi-chaptered fic but I'm not sure exactly how many chapters there will be yet, so... Enjoy the fluff!!!

She could see him looking around the cabin curiously out of the corner of her eye, his big form folded into the surprisingly comfortable airline seat with his legs stretched out as far as they’d go in front of him. He had a tumbler of premium whiskey in his flesh hand despite the early hour, the metal one hidden underneath the same fitted leather glove that he’d been wearing the day they’d met almost a year earlier and he was completely oblivious to the fact that the flight hostess had been flirting with him since they boarded the plane. Seriously. The bottle blonde had been aggressively hitting on him for the past twenty minutes, constantly appearing at his elbow with an offers of snacks, drinks and ‘if there’s anything I can assist you with, Sir, please don’t hesitate to let me know’. It would almost be funny any other time, except this morning it really wasn’t. The hostess was grating on her last nerve and Bucky couldn’t even tell it was happening. Wasn’t he supposed to be some scary observant spy type or something?

Darcy snatched the glass out of his hand and took a long sip, tried not to cough when it burned its way down her throat and settled in her empty stomach. She ignored the rush of nausea and took another angry sip. She knew he was an attractive man, hell, he was absolutely fucking gorgeous and she was pathetically grateful that he’d chosen her every day, but the blatant disrespect that the hostess was showing her by completely disregarding her presence at his side was offensive.

“Whoah, hey, hey, what’s goin’ on, Darce?” He wrestled the tumbler out of her fingers and set it down on the little table in front of him, shuffling and shifting in his seat so he was facing her instead of the front of the cabin. He studied her face intently, eyes wide and concerned when he noticed how tense she was and the way her jaw was clenched tightly shut. She stared resolutely out the window and ignored the burn in her sinuses. “Princess, what’s wrong?”

She bit her lip as soon as she felt it starting to wobble and refused to blink just in case she started to blubber like an idiot. She knew that she was hormonally compromised at the moment but it didn’t really help that nobody seemed to believe that Bucky was her boyfriend. She wasn’t an insecure person, she wasn’t, but ever since they’d arrived at the boarding gate in New York the flight crew had been fawning over Bucky like he was a piece of meat, ignoring her like she was trash and her confidence had taken a bit of a hit. Their blatant disregard for her presence just because of her lack of celebrity status made her feel small and worthless, it was an ugly feeling and she didn’t like it at all. She took a shaky breath and shot him a smile that was more like a grimace. “I’m fine.”

He cocked his eyebrow at her and his expression told her that he knew she was lying. “Liar,” he poked her in the side and frowned at her lack of reaction. “Darcy, what’s wrong? C’mon.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb and nuzzled her temple. “Tell me.”

It came out in a rush and she felt her face warm, embarrassed. “That woman keeps trying to find excuses to put her hands on you and she’s being fucking rude. I’m your girlfriend and I’m sitting right the fuck here and it’s like I don’t even exist.”

He glanced back over his shoulder towards the galley that was located between first class where they were currently sitting and business class where their seats had initially been booked, his expression dark and annoyed.

She knew back when she’d booked the tickets that he wouldn’t be able to tolerate the cramped seating in economy, the passengers crammed in like sardines and the noise alone would be far too overwhelming for him so she’d purchased them two seats in business class and had swallowed the cost without complaint. It had put a hefty dent in her savings, but it was worth it. His comfort was worth it.

She’d been pleasantly surprised (and painfully grateful) when they’d arrived at the bustling airport and had discovered that Steve had called ahead and paid for an upgrade to first class for both of them as well as taking the time to organize a private security clearance for Bucky so he didn’t have to line up with everyone else and be subjected to the wonder that was modern day metal detectors and hopped up security guards and too many people staring at him with their beady little eyes.

She could kiss him for being so thoughtful, but then that would be gross and she really didn’t want to. She’d settled for snapping a picture of Bucky dozing in the private lounge at the gate, comfortable and relaxed, before sending it to him with a simple thank you and five purple love heart emojis. She’d gotten a kissy face in return and a simple ‘have fun- give Mama a smooch for me’ before they’d had to board. He was spending the week with Sam in DC and her mother was only able to be pacified about it by the fact that Bucky was coming home with her instead.

Bucky reached underneath his seat and pulled out his backpack, rifled through it for a second and produced a family sized slab of chocolate with a flourish and a boyish grin that made it difficult for her to stay upset. She giggled as he carefully peeled the wrapper open and snapped off a couple of rows before he folded the end over and tucked it back into his bag.

“You got enough chocolate there, Bucky? Were you worried they wouldn’t have snacks on the flight?”

He wrinkled his nose and made short work of snapping the larger rows into smaller bite sized pieces, popped a square into his mouth and shrugged. “Not especially,” he managed around the sticky sweet in his mouth, “Just thought you might be feelin’ a little shitty after last night still and wanted to have it with me just in case.”

There was a rattle of wheels on carpet somewhere down the aisle and Darcy immediately frowned when she heard the other flight hostesses offering refreshments to the rest of the passengers that were dotted around the barely filled cabin. That woman would be back soon and Darcy wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to refrain from punching her in her stupid, plastic face.

Bucky, ever observant of her moods, shot her a look that screamed ‘I’m on to you’ but put his back towards the aisle even more to prove just how disinterested he was in her advances.

“She can go swing,” he shrugged and fed her some of the chocolate before he sucked his fingers into his mouth to lick off the melted remains, “I’m here with my beautiful lady-love and I ain’t got eyes for anyone else, let alone her.” His lip curled and he glanced back with a shudder. “If she tries to touch me again, you can bite her hands and face off like that chimpanzee in that documentary we watched did. I’ll pretend I didn’t see a thing.”

Darcy snorted into the palm of her hand and shot him an affectionate grin, lacing her fingers with his and opening her mouth obediently to accept another couple of cubes of chocolate. “She’s pretty persistent,” she mused as she chewed, “Biting her face off might not stop her.”

He frowned and she could see the tense line of his shoulders underneath the black bomber jacket he was wearing and it suddenly dawned on her that maybe he wasn’t as oblivious to the attention as she’d initially thought. Of course he was going to notice some random woman invading his personal space all the time and of course it was going to make him too tense to be able to relax enough to enjoy the flight to Oklahoma. Fuck, she was an idiot. Why was he even in the aisle seat in the first place? He probably felt super exposed.

“Switch seats with me,” she said suddenly, unlatching the belt across her lap and crawling up onto her knees on the seat. She pushed the arm rest up and nudged him. “Move your beautiful butt, Barnes!”

He shook his head at her but grinned and stood up so she could crawl into his seat, shuffled along past her and fell into the window seat where she’d just been herself. He fiddled with the seat a little bit, reclined it so he’d fit comfortably and once she was settled by the aisle he slumped against her side with a muffled groan, his face pressed into her neck and fingers curled over her thigh. She was pretty sure he was inhaling her hair, but he didn’t seem to mind in the least.

“We’ve got a little bit to go yet,” she told him, shaking out the complimentary blanket that he’d been gifted with on the hostess’s last pass and tucked it around him, “I know you won’t be able to sleep on the plane, too many variables, but feel free to close your eyes and rest a little bit.”

He nuzzled the spot under her ear and pressed an open mouthed kiss against her neck. “M’kay.” His body grew heavier against her side as he got comfortable and his hand pushed up underneath her sweater, fingers hooked into the cup of her bra and he gave a full bodied sigh as his head dropped to her shoulder. “Love you.” He murmured. “My everything.”

Darcy kissed the top of his head in response and ran her fingers through his long hair, stroking and petting him until he was completely lax, eyes closed and breathing steady. He wasn’t asleep but it looked like he was and the next time the hostess sashayed past Darcy couldn’t help the smug grin that crept onto her face when she saw he had moved and Bucky’s hand clearly under her top with a handful of her boobs. She hurried off with a face the color of beetroot and Darcy smothered a giggle in his hair.

“She gone?” He mumbled against her neck and when she nodded he smirked into her skin. “Good. Let me know when we’re gettin’ ready to land.”

 

**

Darcy easily navigated the rental SUV down the street she’d grown up on and tried to ignore the twisting in her stomach as her childhood home came into view. It was a small brick built bungalow style home, three bedrooms, one bathroom and a huge back yard that had high wooden fencing all the way around it. It looked a little old and worn down, the lawn was just this side of unkempt, the shutters definitely needed a new coat of paint and it was kind of scruffy in places but it was undeniably home and a little bit of her anxiety loosened as she pulled into the driveway behind her mother’s truck and killed the engine. She hadn’t been back in a year, last thanksgiving with Steve in fact, and she wasn’t quite prepared for the rush of emotion that hit her when she realized she would finally be seeing her mother and grandmother in person again.

“This it?” Bucky was peering out the windscreen and up at the house when she hummed her assent, his face open and curious and he shot Darcy a warm smile that made her toes curl when she laced her fingers with his. He gave her hand a squeeze and lifted it to kiss the back of her knuckles, scraped his beard across her hand and let out a nervous sigh. He chewed his lip and glanced out the window towards the house. “You think they’re gonna like me?” He asked suddenly. “Is there anythin’ I should know before we go in?”

“They’re going to love you in all kinds of inappropriate ways, Bucky,” she laughed, “Don’t you worry about that.” Her fingers smoothed across his metallic knuckles and she mulled over his second question, wondered how to answer it. “There is something…” His eyes were focused on her now and she forged on. “My brothers, Dylan and Jake, and I don’t really get along all that well. We don’t hate each other exactly,” she rushed to assure him, “- we just don’t really have anything in common and it can get a little bit awkward sometimes.” The look on his face made her stomach twist and she was reminded that he used to be a big brother, a doting one at that and what she was saying must be confusing the fuck out of him. “I’d be crushed if anything happened to them, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not in a hurry to keep in contact with them either. I know it makes me a horrible person, but-”

“Why?”

Her mouth snapped shut and she blinked at him, her word vomit forgotten. “Why, what?”

His jaw clenched and he scrubbed at his cheek with his flesh hand, dug his nails in and scratched. She could hear the rough scrape of his nails pulling through his beard and she reached up to carefully tug his hand away from his face. He was going to do some damage at this rate and she laced her fingers with his to stop him from doing it again.

“Why aren’t you close?” He asked hesitantly, blue, blue eyes roaming over the lines of her face before settling on her eyes. “I’d give anythin’ to have my sister ‘round, even if she used to follow me all over and get in the way and insisted that I let her practice braidin’ my hair all the time,” he shrugged. “She might’a been a lot younger than me but that didn’t mean that she was any less important than anyone else in my family…”

Darcy looked away from his eyes, unable to maintain the contact. The intense look of affection on his face when he talked about Becca made something that she’d buried deep a long time ago wake up and poke at her insides, sinking its claws into the spot underneath her ribs and pulling until she felt sick. She had gotten good at ignoring the sad, desperate need for her brothers to care about her, to look at her as more than an inconvenience but every now and then something happened and it made it harder for her to pretend that she wasn’t affected by their bored indifference to her. It made it harder to ignore the hurt that she’d locked up tight.

“They’re not bad men, Bucky, stop looking at me like they’re pieces of shit because they don’t like spending time with me.”

His voice was level and sure but she knew that he was annoyed because his thumb stopped stroking her knuckles and simply lay pressed against her skin. “When did I say they were?” he reasoned mildly, brow cocked and Darcy knew immediately that he was onto her. He knew that she was upset. “I’m not judging, Darce. I’m not.” His thumb swiped across her knuckles again.

She dropped her cheek against the window and closed her eyes, relishing in the cool press of the glass against her skin. “Jake was eight when I was born, Dylan was almost nine; Irish twins, I think they’re called. I was a surprise baby and by the time I’d come along they were already a unit, they didn’t need another sibling, especially a baby sister and we never really got around to bonding. They had their lives and I had mine.” She blew out a deep breath and looked back at him to find him watching her intently. “It only got worse when Dad left – Dylan hung around a little with me but Jake’d avoid spending any time at home and it was just me and Mama for the most part until I went off to college. I suppose I have them to thank for the relationship I have with her and Grams.” She also supposed it was why she was so attached to Steve and considered him her favorite brother even though there was no relation between them whatsoever.

She felt a tug on her ponytail then his fingers were fisted in her hair, strong hands pulling her head towards his so he could slant his mouth over hers. The taste of him exploded on her tongue, all sweet chocolate and expensive whiskey, a hint of the shitty gas station chai latte that he’d finished a few minutes earlier underneath it all. The quality of the beverage had offended him but he was thirsty after the flight and it was wet, so he’d grudgingly drank it after dumping seven literal sugars into it anyway.

He tipped her head back, thumbs underneath her jaw so he could angle her just right and his tongue swept into her mouth, pulling a quiet moan from deep in her belly as he continued his assault on her senses. Her hands blindly felt around at her hip until she found the latch on her seat belt and she was crawling across the interior of the SUV before it had even finished retracting fully, her ass in his lap and her knees jammed either side of his ribs. His fingers pulled at her hair, tugging at the elastic until it came loose and her curls fell around them like a curtain of ginger and orange scented silk, shielding them from view and enclosing them in their own private little bubble. He kept one hand on the back of her head as he kissed her, soft strands of hair tangled in his fingers and the other pulled at her hip, splaying across her skin underneath her sweater to hold her firm against him.

“You are important,” he mumbled into her mouth, “You are perfect and you are loved. You are everything.”

She blinked back tears at his words, quiet and reverent and exactly what she would say to him when he was having a rough day and she pressed closer to him, kissed him a little harder and held onto his big shoulders a little tighter.

“Darcy Anne Lewis! Stop trying to devour the poor man’s entire face and put him down! Get your ass inside young lady; there’ll be time for besmirching your beautiful boyfriend later!” Her mother’s voice called from the front step of her childhood home and Darcy snorted into his mouth, her giggles building even more when she saw the ruddy blush creeping up his neck at being caught making out with her in the car by her mother.

“Shit,” he swore under his breath and his throat bobbed as he swallowed down a huge breath, “So much for a first impression.”

She drew back to look at him, her lips curled into a warm, reassuring smile. “She’s going to love you, Babe, because she knows how well you take care of me. You make me happy so that’ll make her happy.” She pecked him on the cheek and opened the car door, slipped out onto the driveway and turned to look at where her mother was waiting for them on the front step.

“Besmirching, Mama? Really?!”

Her mother flapped a hand at her and rolled her eyes. “Would you rather I shouted it out to the neighborhood that you two could have as much crazy, kinky sex as you liked in your old bedroom after dinner?” She fixed Darcy with a pointed look that meant that she wasn’t even a little bit fooled by the innocent expression on her daughter’s face. “Don’t give me that look, Darcy Anne, I know how it is when you can’t keep your hands off each other.”

Darcy huffed a laugh and climbed the three shallow steps until she was in front of her Mama and she bent to give her a huge hug, smiling into her neck as the anxious feeling she’d had in her gut since they’d hit the neighborhood petered out and died. Her mother was even shorter than her own five feet, four inches and standing next to her made Darcy feel positively giant, even if there was only a few inches between them. “Missed you.” She breathed into her Mama’s floral blouse before she pulled back when she heard the car door slam closed. Her mother dotted a kiss to her cheek and gave her one last squeeze before repeating the sentiment.

Her mother gasped next to her and Darcy let out a surprised squeak when she felt the pinch of fingers in the crease of her elbow.

“You didn’t tell me he was so _pretty_ , Darcy,” her tone was light but appreciative, proud as punch that her little girl had snagged herself a looker. “ _Well done_ , kiddo.” She breathed.

Darcy glanced back to where Bucky was leaning into the back of the SUV slowly pulling their bags out and setting them onto the drive, obviously giving her a minute to greet her mother before he invaded their home and crashed their Thanksgiving celebrations. He was rooting through his backpack that he’d had with him on the plane and she wondered idly if he was making sure that the handgun he thought she didn’t know about was still safely tucked inside. She wasn’t stupid. Of course she knew he would have been armed, although she did wonder how airport security had either missed it or allowed it on the plane. Still, she kept her mouth shut and let it go, it wasn’t even worth considering getting into an argument about, a complete non-issue. He probably had a blade on his person somewhere too, now that she thought about it and she looked him over silently as she considered where it could be hidden under his snug jeans. There was probably a garrotte somewhere too.

“You should see him naked,” she commented absently, “Kind of makes me want to build a shrine in my closet and make offerings to the Gods.”

Beside her, Joanne Lewis snorted. “Why hide it in a closet?” She queried, bemused. “I’d be proud as hell of that thing if it were me. Own it, baby girl.” She visibly contemplated something for a second. “You two are being safe, aren’t you? No risk of grand-babies yet?”

Darcy felt her cheeks flare and burn and she let out a strangled whine. _“Mama!”_ She tried to ignore the fact that she knew Bucky was able to hear everything they were saying despite the fact he was across the yard at the end of the driveway and she rounded on her mother. “Seriously?!”

Joanne shrugged, completely and utterly unrepentant. “I’m not adverse to the idea of being a Grandma, sweetheart, but it’s a big step and you don’t need to rush into anything just because you can’t help yourselves.” She gave her a pat on the arm and grinned. “That’s how we ended up with you, Darcy Anne.”

Darcy shuddered and rolled her eyes skyward. “I do not need to know about you and dad screwing each other silly,” she complained. “I do not need that visual, Mama, thank you.”

Her mother hummed and linked her arm around Darcy’s elbow. “Can he father children? Not now, obviously, but someday?”

Across the lawn, Bucky tensed and bent over their bags, his big hands gathering them up before he started the walk towards them, chin tipped down and eyes on his feet. Oh yeah, he could definitely hear them.

“I actually don’t know the answer to that,” she admitted slowly, “We’ve sort of touched on it once before but it was upsetting and I don’t want to pry.” She knew he could hear her and she desperately hoped he understood what she was trying to say. “If he can, he can, if he can’t, then that’s not an issue either. I’m not sure if I even want kids, Mama. We’ve both got so much going on that now isn’t the time; I’m just happy to have him all to myself at the moment. If we get to that bridge one day, we’ll cross it then.”

Her Mama hugged her arm and kissed her cheek. “That’s a lovely sentiment, baby girl, but you didn’t actually answer the initial question.” She reminded her and Darcy felt her cheeks warm again when he looked up at her as he neared, heart in his eyes and a small, tentative smile curling the corner of his lips. He’d heard her loud and clear and relief washed over her, her mouth quirking into a grin of her own. They hadn’t actually talked about it, his ability to parent a child, since their first conversation about HYDRA but she needed him to know that it wasn’t something that would change how she felt about him, even if she couldn’t have his children some day she still adored him and nothing would change that.

“Yes, Mama,” she sighed. “He’s enhanced and I come from frighteningly fertile stock, so yes, we are. Wrapping before tapping and all that as well as the implant.”

“Good, good. You know that I’ve always told you that a baby is the best thing you can get out of unprotected sex.” She pat her arm and beamed at the newly arrived Bucky Barnes on her front step. They both actively ignored the mortified grimace on Darcy’s face. “Well, hello, gorgeous!”

He flushed a pretty pink across the bridge of his nose and glanced at Darcy for reassurance before turning back to her mother with a polite but genuine smile on his face. “Good morning, Ms. Lewis. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Darcy and Steve talk about you all the time.”

Darcy could practically feel her Mama melting into a puddle of goo beside her and she didn’t even bother smothering her grin. His smile had that effect on people and she was pleased to know that her mother was not immune judging from the flustered flapping she was doing.

“Please, call me Mama.” She insisted. “Or Mama Lewis, like Steve does, that delightful little shit. Such a pain in the ass.”

He huffed a quiet laugh and rolled his eyes. “Oh you have no idea,” he muttered good naturedly. “He’s been a handful since he was eight.”

Bucky watched her, quietly amused as she lifted her hands and dropped them three times before finally she just said _‘fuck it’_ under her breath and flung herself at him for an unexpected hug. He tensed for a moment, wide eyed and panicky with his arms pinned to his sides underneath Joanne’s arms but then she was backing away and ushering them inside like the fussing mother she really was. She didn’t seem to notice how shaken he seemed by her show of affection and Darcy looped her fingers around his when she realized that was the first hug he’d had from a motherly figure since the day he’d shipped out to basic.

“Come in, come in, it’s cold out and you’ll catch a chill,” She waved them inside happily and quirked a brow at Darcy as he stepped past her and into the adjoining den with their luggage, her mouth forming an ‘o’ of appreciation and she mouthed her approval, threw her a thumbs up and gestured to his butt.

Darcy coughed to cover her snort and he glanced back at her, brow creased and concerned as he set the bags down just inside the door.

“You alright, Princess?”

She ignored her mother’s cooing and nodded. “Just choked on air,” she lied and wriggled her fingers at him, beckoning him closer. “C’mere,” she insisted as her Mama disappeared into the kitchen to put some coffee on, “-gimme some sugar.”

He stepped into her arms with no hesitation and bent to mouth at the side of her neck. “Was your mom lookin’ at my ass?” He asked as if he didn’t already know the answer. “Tell me she wasn’t lookin’ at my ass,” he pleaded, “Steve told me she might. He also said to watch your Grams; apparently she’s handsy or somethin’?”

Darcy giggled as he dotted little kisses across her cheeks and reached behind him to grope said butt. “It’s a great ass,” she observed with an appreciative squeeze through the dark denim of his jeans, “I’d think there was something wrong with her if she didn’t take a peek. The perversion is strong in this family.”

He blushed properly this time but his hips canted toward her regardless and he cupped the back of her neck in his silver fingers, crowding in closer until they were pressed together from thigh to chest. She could feel his breath puffing against her mouth and was leaning up onto her toes to kiss him when her mother’s voice broke the spell.

“The coffee is read - _oh for_ \- is it that hard that you can’t refrain from molesting the man for more than five minutes at a time, Darcy? _Really??_ ”

Darcy’s hands groped his butt shamelessly and she turned to look at her mother with a suggestive leer on her face. “Why yes, actually, it really _is_ that hard.”

Bucky let out a panicky strangled _‘Jesus, Darce!’_   but didn’t back away (for reasons, duh) and her mother threw her head back and cackled loudly at the look of horror on his face. She laughed even harder when Darcy slapped him on the butt and gave him a lecherous wink whilst mouthing _‘later’_ to him. He practically turned purple and was visibly attempting to melt into the floor.

“Come on, you two,” she wiped at her glassy eyes and nodded towards the doorway she’d just come through that Darcy knew lead to the small but airy kitchen in the back of the bungalow. “Come grab a decent cup of coffee before your brother gets here with your Grams.” She insisted gently, her smile turning a little bit sad. She knew that as soon as Jake arrived with her mother that Darcy would withdraw to protect herself and it pained her to know that her son was at fault. Dylan wasn’t as bad as his younger brother was with her, but Jake never had time for Darcy and would only attempt conversation with her when he’d been drinking; it often made for a tense Thanksgiving but this time she hoped things would be different. Darcy would have Bucky to lean on and her grandmother to act as a no nonsense buffer. Jake wouldn’t dare to pick on his sister in front of her, he was just like his father and was on occasion a complete asshole, but he wasn’t ballsy enough to berate his sister in front of his grandmother and her new, somewhat dangerous boyfriend.

 

**

Darcy was buzzing with excitement when they heard the car pull up into the drive outside, the slam of multiple doors and muffled chatter of her brother and grandmother audible through the closed front door. She scrambled out of Bucky’s lap, all arms and legs and in her haste to get up missed the pained grunt let out when her elbow landed rather indelicately in his crotch.

“Fucks sake, Darce!” He wheezed, expression pinched and thoroughly vexed. “ _Elbows up_ , woman, _elbows up!_ Shit a fucking brick!”

Her mother’s peals of laughter made her pause in her tracks and she looked back over her shoulder, perplexed. “What?”

Bucky was hunched over, his entire body tense and he was breathing slowly through his nose, his icy blue eyes glaring at her from underneath inky lashes. There was a sheen of glass across them and for a minute Darcy thought he’d had a moment, a flashback or something although he hadn’t been having those recently so she pushed that idea aside and turned back around to face him. “What happened?” Her feet were already carrying her back over to him and when he didn’t flinch away from her she smoothed her hand across the back of his shoulders and cupped the back of his neck with her fingers, the digits sinking into the soft thick of his hair.

He let out a heavy sigh and straightened a little bit, glanced at her mother with a look of resigned amusement and shook his head slightly as she continued to laugh at his misfortune. “Well put it this way,” he started, “That conversation with your Mama earlier about me bein’ able to have kids? We might never know if you keep on elbowin’ me in the junk like you just did.”

Her face flushed, mortified and she immediately started to flutter and fawn, a groan of embarrassment slipping past her lips. “Oh God, I didn’t..?” One quick glance at her Mama sat across the room with her coffee, whole body shaking with amusement and she flushed even darker. “I’m so sorry, Sugar Plum!” She pushed him back by the shoulders and let a wicked grin curve her mouth as she bent over him. “Let me kiss it better!”

Bucky’s embarrassed spluttering and bright red face made her Mama laugh even harder and he slapped her hands away from where they’d dipped underneath the hem of his shirt to grab his belt. “ _For fucks_ \- Not in front of your mother, Princess!!”

She pouted but her eyes sparkled up at him and he softened a little, his embarrassment giving way to quiet amusement. “You’re a great big stick in the mud, you know that?” She grumped before grinning so he knew she was just playing and not at all annoyed with him. “It’s not like she doesn’t know we have sex all the time,” she reasoned. “And you pretty much just admitted it yourself a minute ago with the reproducing reference.”

He blushed scarlet and refused to even look in the direction of her mother, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he swallowed soundlessly and stared at a picture frame on the wall behind her.

“M’not lettin’ you blow me while your Mama’s in the room,” He snapped shortly. “It’s fucking weird, Darce. Will you – _stop tryin’ to unbuckle me!_ Ow! Don’t pinch me! What are you, five?!?”

From her seat across the small antique coffee table across the room, Joanne Lewis wept through her laughter as she watched her daughter tease her boyfriend –the world’s most prolific assassin, mind you – and succeed in making him a flustered, embarrassed mess. She was doing a fine job of it too. He was trying to fend her off without hurting her and she wasn’t having a bar of it, her fingers under his white button down shirt tickling across his belly. The affection that he held for her daughter was painfully clear and it made Joanne’s heart swell with the knowledge that Darcy had found herself a decent man, someone who would watch out for her and nurture her and dote on her. Someone who could _and would_ do anything to make her happy. Darcy was a little bit reserved when it came to her heart and guarded herself with a careful caution that made her teeth hurt, but this man, James Buchanan Barnes, World War two veteran and prisoner of war, had managed to weasel his way past her defenses and had planted himself behind every one of her carefully erected walls.

She’d had some reservations about James Barnes initially and she was more than ashamed to admit that her first reaction to the news that he was dating her only daughter wasn’t a great one. She’d heard all sorts of things about him, had read the news reports and articles via the online papers and the thought that this dangerous man – there was no potentially about it – was somehow involved with her little girl had frightened her to death. It wasn’t his stature that scared her, hell, Darcy had always had a thing for men that were twice her size so that wasn’t a shock, but it was the potential for things to go south quickly that made her nervous in every way possible. He was a dangerous man, a cold blooded, mentally unstable killer if the papers were to be believed and the possibility that he could have an episode and hurt her whether it was intentional or accidental made her feel sick and sweaty with fear. Shame filled her when she thought about how she’d reacted when Darcy had called her in a flutter, her heart in her voice, to tell her that she’d met someone special, someone new and important and God, she couldn’t get him out of her head.

Darcy’d hung up on her that night, her voice thick with un-shed tears and hurt when the conversation hadn’t gone as planned and she had felt like complete scum afterwards when she’d realized that her daughter was right; Bucky Barnes deserved a chance. He’d been through so much bullshit for so many years and he’d lost everything he held dear, not only physically but mentally, unable to remember even the simplest things about his life before… He was a human being, a human being who had the potential to become a member of her family and he was important to her daughter, so therefore, he was important to her. Bucky deserved the chance to prove himself worthy and in the following months he had done so in spades. She’d never known Darcy to sound as happy and content as she did when she talked about him every week when she called.

Joanne was not in the least bit proud to admit that she’d tried to dissuade Darcy from pursuing a relationship with Bucky fucking Barnes that first night on the phone and watching them now across the room, hands all over each other and eyes full of adoration despite the bickering, she felt even more ashamed. James Barnes – no, Bucky – was an intense, kind, sweet, thoroughly decent man who had obviously gotten himself caught in Darcy’s gravitational pull and would happily spend the rest of his days orbiting her like the earth did the sun. He was so head over heels, stupid in love with her that even Stevie Wonder would be able to see it and she knew now that at the heart of him, he was a fine man and a credit to his mother, God rest her soul.

Joanne’s heart lurched when she thought about the pain of potentially losing one of her babies in the same way that his mother had, the agony of not knowing where he was or what was happening to him was almost too much to bear.

But he was a survivor. He was resilient and strong and just a little bit chipped in places, but he kept going and even though she’d only met him an hour ago for the first time, she was so fucking proud of him.

The sound of the front door opening startled them all and Darcy was quick to run out into the hall to greet her brother and grandmother, her squeal of happiness echoing back into the small den as she no doubt threw herself at Valeria for a hug.

Across the room, Bucky’s smile fell off his face and he ran his hands over his denim covered thighs, a sort of nervous tension spreading throughout his big body as he rose to his feet and waited for Darcy to return with her beloved Grams so they could be introduced. He slumped a little and shifted, shoulders rolling in and it took a moment for Joanne to realize he was trying to make himself smaller, less like the mountain of man that he actually was and more like an average guy that you’d be able to walk by in the street without even batting an eyelid. She didn’t know what he was trying to pull because there was no hiding his stature and there was most certainly no hiding that face. It was a handsome one and if he thought he could pass himself off as your bog standard, average nobody… Well, he had another thing coming.

“Darcy tells me you speak multiple languages,” she blurted out of nowhere and his eyes were on her in an instant. “Do you speak German?”

He frowned, confused at the sudden topic of conversation but faced her fully nonetheless, giving her his full attention. “Uh, yes. Yes, I do. I’m not as fluent as I am in Russian and my accent is sort of terrible, but I know enough to keep my ass out of the fire if necessary.” He squinted a little at her and cocked his head. “Am I right in assuming this isn’t a random question?”

Joanne rocked forward a couple of times and heaved herself out of the squishy armchair (she really should have known better than to sit there, she could never get up out of the damned thing) and hurried over to one of the cabinets that lined the wall by the fireplace. She pulled a sheaf of papers and a pen out and came to stand in front of him, smiling to herself as he angled his body and turned into her, careful not to touch her but close enough to read what was on the paper in her hands. He frowned and silently asked permission to take them from her with a quirk of his brow.

“What is this?” He muttered, brows creased as he read over the lump of foreign text. “Is this a knitting pattern or somethin’?” He asked after a moment.

She bounced a little bit and clapped. “Crochet,” she nodded, “So you can read it?”

He glanced at her and nodded, “Yeah, of course I can.” His frown softened and she could see the look of nostalgia bleed into his eyes, the warmth of a memory coming to him before a crushing sadness swept over him that she felt like she could physically touch. His jaw ticked and he swallowed, eyes closed for a second before he collected himself and cleared his throat. “What’s the problem? Which part can’t you figure out?”

She assessed him quietly, thoughtfully for a moment and threw all caution to the wind and lifted her hand to stroke his bicep, gave it a gentle squeeze and give his cheek a motherly pat. “If I upset you, Bucky, you need to tell me.” She chastised quietly as the noise in the hallway got louder. “I’m not a mind reader and if I misstep or offend you, you need to let me know so I don’t do it again.”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked away. “It looks like somethin’ my Ma would have made,” he answered after beat of hesitation. “Looks familiar. You didn’t offend me, Mama Lewis, it just hurts to – I miss her, is all. You didn’t offend me, honest.” He repeated earnestly.

Joanne’s heart twinged, the sad resignation in his voice making her want to gather him up and smoosh him with the biggest, tightest hug she could manage until it chased his misery away.

“I know I’m not your mother, Honey, and I know that nobody could ever replace her, but you know I’m here for you, right?” She ducked her head and peered up at him. “Any time you need, I’ll be here for you. You’re important to Darcy and Steve so that makes you important to me.” She smiled softly at his startled, coltish expression and gave his arm another gentle pat. She didn’t want to overwhelm him so she flicked her pen at the papers in his hand and pointed out the section she’d gotten snagged on months ago. “I don’t know what this word here means.”

He physically startled at the sudden one eighty and cleared his throat, following the line of her pen to read over the sentence a couple of times. “I’m not familiar with how to do it myself, Ma tried to teach me when I was small but I couldn’t get my head around how to hold the hook right and just got angry all the time instead,” he admitted with chagrin, “Was better at knittin’, anyway, but yeah, uh, this word here? It means ‘treble’ and this one here? Means ‘five’, as in the number. Does that make any sense to you?”

Joanne scowled at the paper and snorted. “Well,” she cursed, “Don’t I feel fucking stupid?” At his look of confusion she rolled her eyes and snatched the pattern back from him so she could glare at it some more. “I’ve been stuck on this for five months.”

He snorted in amusement, his eyes crinkling in the corners and he quickly smothered it with his hand. The little shit. “You didn’t try an online translator or somethin’?”

She parroted his words back and him, her voice purposely lower and sarcastic. “Use an online translator, Mama Lewis,” she mocked, “Shut up, Bucky. Stop laughing at me or I’ll tan your backside with a goddamned wooden spoon!”

His shoulders shook as he laughed and he took a small step away from her, hands pulled tight against his chest as she swung at him with the sheaf of paper.

“Stop. Laughing. Child!”

He let out a bark of laughter and side stepped her assault attempt with ease, completely unaware that one of their guests had stopped in the doorway to see what the fuss was about. His face was flushed with happiness and his eyes sparkled as she landed a solid whack against the back of his head with the paper pattern. He was almost breathless with laughter and he ducked a follow up attack. “Mama, _stop!_ ”

She beamed at him and gathered him up to press a huge, smacking kiss against his cheek. “You called me Mama!”

He wrinkled his nose and wriggled away from her, fingers scrubbing at the spot on his cheek where she’d just planted one on him. The smile on his face was warm and wistful and a little bit self-conscious. “Yeah, well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?”

“Seems to be something you make a habit of these days, doesn’t it?”

The room fell silent and the smile on his face slipped away, replaced with a cold, blank expression that left her looking at him with a feeling of horrified embarrassment. He wasn’t Bucky anymore and the sudden change in him made her skin crawl with nervous tension.

Darcy’s furious voice broke the silence and Joanne’s wasn’t far behind.

“What the actual fucking _fuck_ , Jake?!”

Bucky turned his cold, hollow gaze towards the newcomer and straightened, any sign of his earlier attempts to make himself smaller forgotten and Darcy hurried towards him, glancing back over her shoulder at her older brother with a feral snarl on her face.

“You’re such a fucking prick, Jake! What the hell has he ever done to you?” She raged as she stepped into the personal space of the Winter Soldier without hesitation. Joanne had no doubt that’s who he was right now, Bucky Barnes tucked away protectively somewhere in the back of his mind. “Why would you even say something like that? You don’t even know him!”

Jake Lewis was a tall man, a little over six feet like his father and all dark hair and wholesome good looks, big blue eyes and an easy smile that never really reached his eyes. He looked just like his dad and unfortunately for him, he shared a good lot of his personality traits too. He was arrogant and abrasive and he often said things without thinking that left you feeling attacked and battered and bewildered all at once. It was no wonder that Darcy avoided spending time with him. He seemed to make her cry every time they were in the same room and his blatant indifference to her feelings was jarring.

This was not going to go well if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass and tread carefully.

Jake shrugged and looked over the bigger man with barely concealed distaste. “I know enough,” he argued, expression sour. “Seriously, Darcy,” he started, “Why him? What was wrong with Aaron?”

Darcy’s face paled briefly at the name before she flushed with anger and Joanne felt more than saw the shift in Bucky’s posture. He’d almost certainly noticed her reaction to the mention of her ex-boyfriend and it made her wonder if he knew anything about it. Judging from the calculating look in his pale eyes, this was news to him.

“ _Fuck you_ ,” Darcy’s voice shook and she was far too quiet. Her hand unconsciously sought out Bucky’s metal fingers and she clutched at him for support. “You _know_ what he did and how dare you bring him up in front of me _or_ Bucky!”

Jake rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall he’d been leaning on, walking over to kiss his mother hello. She frowned deeply at her son and he sighed, irritated and dismissive.

“There was nothing wrong with Aaron,” he dismissed her with his standard blithe indifference. “You probably deserved it anyway. Your mouth always gets you in trouble, I’m sure it was no different then.”

Darcy made a choked sound that made her stomach twist with nausea and Joanne threw her a look before she bodily shoved her son past the couple and into the hall. He tried to protest but she dug her nails into the flesh of his arm and pushed him so hard that he stumbled. He may be bigger than her and outweigh her by a good few pounds, but he was still her son and he would show some fucking respect.

“You complete and utter bastard, Jake Andrew Lewis! How fucking dare you?! What the hell is your problem?” She demanded. He hadn’t even been this hostile when he’d met Steve briefly last year and he was being mean to his sister for the sheer fun of it, she realized. “You need to pull your fucking head in and go apologize to your sister,” she ordered. “ _And Bucky_.”

He looked almost bored with their conversation and shook his head. “Yeah, no. I don’t think I will. When’s dinner?” He completely changed the subject and turned to head toward the kitchen. “What time is Dylan arriving?”

Joanne watched him go with a slack jawed shock that left her mute. Where the hell had she gone wrong with him??

 

**

 

Darcy swallowed thickly, blinking back tears of humiliation as she scrubbed at her face with the sleeve of her sweater. She could feel Bucky watching at her off to her right and she knew what he was thinking, she knew he wanted to know what Jake was talking about but she didn’t like to think about her ex-boyfriend at all. It wasn’t a fun time in her life and it hurt more than she’d imagined it would to think that Jake was of the opinion that she’d deserved what Aaron had done to her. That he thought he was preferable to her current boyfriend, Bucky.

He didn’t even know him and guilt churned in her stomach when she thought about how happy he’d looked when he was messing around with her Mama when they’d walked in, then the slow, cold press of his steely walls slamming up when her stupid, asshole brother opened his fucking mouth.

Jake was never outright nasty to her before and it was confusing to say the least, but she couldn’t really admit that she was surprised by him. She was suddenly dreading Dylan’s arrival. Fuck, maybe coming home for the holidays was a mistake? It felt like one.

Bucky’s hand pressed into the small of her back and she sank into it but didn’t look up at him. They were alone for the minute, her Grams down the back of the house getting her things settled so she’d missed the whole fucking debacle and her mother had dragged Jake off somewhere.

“Darce,” his voice was rough and low, “Explain... Please?”

She clamped her eyes closed and sniffed. “God, do I have to?” She asked miserably, her voice wobbling slightly. When he didn’t answer she sighed and forced a humorless smile onto her face. He didn’t keep secrets from her, so why should she have the right to keep things from him? “I have to, don’t I?”

He pressed up against her back and buried his nose in her hair behind her ear. “I’m not going to force you to talk about something that you’re obviously upset about, Princess,” he murmured quietly, “But if you decide you want to tell me, I’m all ears, Sweetheart. You can trust me.”

She turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest, breathing in the woodsy, clean scent of him and pushed her hands underneath his shirt to feel his skin. He was warm under her hands and she took a minute to just bask in his presence. “I’m so sorry about Jake,” She mumbled sadly, “He wasn’t socialized properly as a puppy.”

He grunted and wound his arms around her waist, pressed his palm between her shoulder blades and rested his chin on the top of her head. “Assholes are common place in this world, Darcy.” He reasoned. “Don’t worry about me, they’re just words.” He gave her a squeeze, adjusting his arms around her to hold her closer. “Although if he talks to you like that again I’m gonna castrate the fucker with a rusty spoon. Right after I put crushed glass in his food.”

Darcy looked up at him, wide eyed and mouth open. “Are you even serious right now?” One look at the stubborn set of his jaw told her that yes, he was. “What would the glass in his food do?”

“The stomach is unable to digest the glass and it shreds the lining of the gut from the inside out. It’s slow and painful and leads to internal bleeding and or death.”

She blinked, a little horrified that he would think to do that to her brother but oddly touched that he would go to such lengths to protect her. “You’re a little bit frightening, Sweetie.” She commented idly, a small smile on her face. She pulled at his waist and dipped her fingers into the waist of his jeans to rest against the curve of his ass. “I adore that about you.”

He smiled down at her, face open and bright again and he preened. “ _Thank you_.” He pressed a smacking kiss against the side of her neck.

She giggled and leaned up on her toes to kiss him full on the mouth. “You’re very welcome, Bucky-bear. My everything.”

He smiled against her lips and tangled his hands in her hair, “All the everything.” He agreed readily.

A throat cleared behind them and they both turned to look at the same time.

“Well, this is cozy…” The newcomer announced and Darcy swallowed as she took in the dark haired man in the doorway; he looked similar enough to her other brother but this one was a little taller, a little stockier. Dylan had arrived and he was watching them with barely concealed interest. He smirked at her and glanced between the two lovers before his smile grew into something more genuine and a whole lot friendlier than Jake’s had been. “It’s good to see you, Sis. You look well.” He stepped forward and pecked her on the cheek before he offered his hand to Bucky. “Dylan Lewis, Darcy’s eldest brother.” He waited patiently for the super soldier to untangle himself from his little sister and shot him a bright, welcoming grin when Bucky finally shook his hand. “You must be Bucky.”

Bucky glanced at Darcy and bolstered by her hopeful expression, he nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

 

 


	2. The Battle of The Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here be drama!!!!
> 
> Have at it!
> 
> .. you all rock, btw. Thank you!!!!

Darcy glanced between her eldest brother and her boyfriend for a moment and tried to mute the look of blatant shock on her face. Dylan had never, ever taken the time to greet anyone she’d brought home before and she had thought that this time would be no different. He’d spent the majority of his teen years quiet and withdrawn and even if he’d made time to mess around in the back yard with her, Darcy had always suspected that he didn’t really enjoy their so called bonding in the least. She was of the impression that he, just like Jake, was indifferent to her as a sibling, accepting of her presence but not interested in any other capacity. Then again, he’d been the one to teach her how to tie her shoes and he _had_ been the one to show her how to throw a punch back in the fourth grade when the boys had taken to teasing her and making fun of her already impressive bust line. Yes, she developed boobs at an early age and whilst she was comfortable in her body nowadays, that didn’t mean that she’d wanted to be a C cup at ten years old. It was a bitch of a thing to go through and it was only recently that she’d changed her mind about getting a reduction. Her boobs had made her self-conscious for years and it had taken even longer for her to grow to embrace her curvy figure, especially after all the assumptions about her sex life that had been based upon them. Apparently a woman (or teenage girl, as it were) wasn’t allowed to have large breasts without being a slut… Some guys were assholes and more than one guy she’d met since agreed with them. It wasn’t uncommon, but it was complete and utter bullshit and she tried not to let it hurt her feelings every single time it happened. Yes, happened. As in, it still occurred on the regular. She was not about to tell Bucky that little piece of information, either. No way, no how.

Jake was an asshole. A complete and utter fucking asshole that she wouldn’t piss on if he was on fire at the moment. Hell, she might even break out the marshmallows and sing a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace whilst basking in the warmth of the flames.

Such a prick. Anyway.

A throat cleared and she blinked rapidly, head turning to look past her brother and she cocked her head confused at the other person hanging back in the doorway. “Uh, hi?” She blurted out, eyes narrowed.

The man in the doorway, a small scrap of a guy, really, flushed an embarrassed shade of pink and shuffled on the spot, slender fingers scratching at the cuff of a purple button down shirt. He had messy blonde hair that was styled in an artful attempt at a faux-hawk and bright blue eyes that complimented his pale complexion. Tattoos crept up the side of his neck in pretty swirls of blue and pink Asian inspired clouds and she could see more of them peeking out along the tops of his hands as they plucked at the legs of his black skinnies. The look was completed with a pair of loud velvet creepers that looked like they were fashioned after a set of piano keys and he had a pair of sparkling bright pink stones nestled underneath his bottom lip off to the left. He was pretty in an elven, pixie-ish kind of way and Darcy frowned as she tried to figure out who he was.

He reminded her of Steve before the hunk-machine juiced him up all good and proper. Jesus.

His eyes flickered from her to Dylan and then to Bucky where they widened almost comically in recognition before he cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. “Um.”

Dylan let out an amused huff and took a few steps back towards him, hand outstretched just long enough for the tattooed tiny person to twist their fingers together before Dylan tugged him into his side and pressed a firm kiss against his brow. The smaller man sagged against him and sighed briefly before patting her brother on the stomach and righting himself with a renewed air of determination. Dylan slipped his arm around the little guy’s waist and shot his sister a smug grin that didn’t meet his eyes. The fear he must have felt inside stared back at her and her mouth opened in a quiet gasp of understanding. So that was it then, the reason he’d always been so quiet and withdrawn and never dated any of the girls that threw themselves at him during high school…. Dylan was gay and had been so far into the closet that he hadn’t been able to tell which way was up.

Darcy’s eyebrows could not get any further into her hairline if they tried. “Um, indeed,” she mused quietly as she stepped around her mountain of a boyfriend and moved a little closer to the couple. Dylan tensed and the other man lifted his chin stubbornly as she neared. He looked ready to take her on and Dylan looked ready to bolt.

“I’m Darcy,” she told him, hand outstretched, “Lovely to meet you…?”

Obviously stunned and expecting a different reaction, the blonde slipped his hand into hers and shook it hesitantly, “Kyle,” he blurted, eyes wide. He looked sideswiped but his handshake was firm. Confident. “Uh, my name is Kyle. I’m-”

“He’s my boyfriend, Darce,” Dylan spoke over him, his tone no nonsense and clipped. He glanced at Bucky uneasily and then back to her. “Are we gonna have a problem with this?”

She scoffed and retracted her hand, eyes running over the ink that spilled over the backs of Kyle’s hands curiously. “Of course we’re fucking not,” she spat, “I’m dating an ex-soviet assassin slash super soldier slash avenger, why the hell would I have a problem with you dating a hipster? He’s adorable, by the way, despite the hipster status. Isn’t he adorable, Babe?” She smiled at Kyle brightly. “You’re adorable.”

Bucky shrugged agreeably behind her and his lips quirked up into a small smile. “He actually reminds me of Stevie. Before, I mean.”

The couple blinked at her and Dylan opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut, confused. “Darcy,” he began, “I meant because he’s a man. I’m gay, Darce.”

She frowned at him and lifted a cool eyebrow, glanced back at Bucky who was watching the whole exchange with a sort of quiet curiosity and then back to her brother. “Well, I guess now that you mention it I am pretty pissed that you never mentioned that part to me, but why would I care? I don’t care who you diddle, as long as they treat you well.” She ended with a shrug.

Kyle let out a muffled snort and buried his face in Dylan’s side to conceal the majority of his amusement and Dylan gaped at her as his pixie boyfriend chortled and muttered about her using the term ‘diddled’. She bit back a grin, he really _was_ an adorable little thing, then rounded to beckon Bucky closer. He sidled closer at her behest with no hesitation whatsoever. God, he smelled especially good today.

“But,” Dylan was obviously having trouble processing her easy acceptance of his apparent sexuality and relationship despite not knowing a lick about it before today and she rolled her eyes as Bucky curled around her from behind, hands on her belly, warm at her back, “But the church always said-”

Darcy held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m just going to stop you right there,” she told him. “You _know_ how I feel about the church and I’d have hoped you would know that you could have told me all of this long before now.” She reached her hand out to cup her brother’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I don’t care who you love, Dylan. Gender or sexuality doesn’t matter to me, all that matters is that you’re happy.” She squinted up at him and frowned at the sheen in his eyes. “… you _are_ happy, right?”

He swallowed loudly and gave her a jerky nod, mouth pressed in a thin line. Kyle’s hand smoothed across his belly and Dylan absently curled his fingers around the other man’s slender wrist to stroke the delicate bones there, bending a little for him to nuzzle his cheek and whisper something in his ear. The sheen cleared away and he shot her a warm but tiny smile. “Thank you, Darcy,” he mumbled, his free hand reaching up to loop around her elbow gently. He pat her arm gratefully and pulled her in for a short hug that lasted all of five seconds before he let her go and looked away. “Just… _Thank you._ For not judging me.” He glanced at Kyle and a pleased smile curled his lips. “For not judging _us_.”

She shrugged and leaned back into Bucky’s warm chest, relishing in the feel of him like the cat that got the canary. His heartbeat thudded against her shoulder blades and she glanced up at him over her shoulder as she stroked his hands. “Why would I judge you two? Love is love, right Sugar Plum?”

Bucky shrugged against her back and rested his chin on the top of her head. “Yeah, sure. Not really an issue for me, never has been. Lord knows Stevie’s got a little ‘camp’ in him sometimes. S’not a big deal.”

Darcy almost choked on her tongue and spun in his arms a little so she could see him properly. “Steve, as in, the original chorus line cutie, Steve?!” She bleated. “Steve is gay too?!”

Bucky snorted and rubbed a soothing hand across her lower back and rolled his eyes. “Princess, Steve is an opportunist. He don’t care what sex you are or identify as, if he wants in your pants, he wants in your pants. Pretty certain he made his way through most of his showgirls _and_ the 107th back in the day, anyway. He could be very persuasive. People just didn’t talk about it.”

She pursed her lips and stomped her foot. “That goddamned harlot! How could he hide this juicy, juicy gossip from me all this time? Oh my God,” she gasped, “He’s been using his pretty face for personal gain all this time! That little fucking troll! Why, I oughta-”

Bucky’s mouth pressed against hers insistently and she let out a muffled gasp that quickly turned into a blissed out moan. She pawed at his perfect ass, hands digging underneath his shirt to find skin  before she whined as he pulled back and she tried to chase him but he held her back and shushed her with two fingers over her lips. “Now, lets not think about Stevie bein’ a horn-dog and focus, alright?” He glanced over her shoulder but kept his hands on her at all times. “Who’s been judgin’ you?” He asked, concerned. “Do you want me to shoot ‘em?”

There was a beat of uncomfortable quiet and it was enough to make Darcy turn back towards the couple in concern. Dylan had that look on his face that spoke of intense discomfort and Kyle just looked plain sick to his stomach, his mouth pinched sourly shut. Was it their answer that was the problem or was it Bucky’s generous offer that made them uncomfortable. “Guys?”

“It was your asshole brother,” Kyle spat, eyes flashing. “He called Dylan a..” He flushed and looked away, “He called him something awful and insulting and he hasn’t spoken to him civilly since he found out about us.” He looked up at her, bright blue eyes angry and determined to take on the world. “He can say what he likes about me but he’s D’s family! He’s supposed to love and support him no matter what, not call him a fucking fa-” He stopped short and huffed, cheeks flushed with anger. “My apologies,” he mumbled, “I’m out of line. I shouldn’t say things like that in front of a lady.”

Darcy let out a shocked bark of laughter and she didn’t even feel the slightest bit offended when Bucky did the same. Dylan smiled into his shoulder and rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “Sweetie, I aint no _lady_ ,” she told him, laughing softly before she sobered. “But you’re right, Jake is an asshole of epic proportions and he’s on my shit list too, so don’t feel too bad about it. You can douse him in petrol and I’ll light the fire. We’ll call it a bonding experience.”

Kyle looked entirely too excited about the idea. “Good times.” He nodded eagerly. “Count me in.”

Dylan looked from her to Bucky when he noticed the way the big man’s shoulders hunched and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “What did he do?” He demanded, voice low and annoyed and Darcy found herself remembering the last time he’d sounded that pissed off about something to do with her personal life. “Darcy, what has he fucking done?”

It had been when she was nineteen and she’d gotten involved with one of Jake’s friends. It had been after he’d gotten the call when her neighbor, Taryn, had called him in a panic to tell him that she was on her way to the hospital with her in the back of an ambulance because said friend had broken her jaw. It had been after Aaron. Maybe, just maybe, he did actually care after all…

She blew out a tired sigh and hugged Bucky’s metal forearm to her waist, clutching at him in an effort to comfort him and maybe even herself, if she was being honest. Sure, he had said it was no big deal, but she knew him well enough by now to know when he was lying and by God, his pants were on fire. “He said something off hand to Bucky about his previous life..” She didn’t mention the H-word, but Dylan understood loud and clear and his lip curled in anger. “It was rude and uncalled for and he made a terrible first impression.”

“He’s a fucking cunt,” he sneered. “A complete waste of oxygen and flesh and you need to either ignore him or make a handbag out of him. I’m sure you’d figure out how to, given the chance. He's such a sack of shit.” He told Bucky plainly. “What they did to you was shitful and wrong and it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen in the first place. The army, hell, the entire US government screwed up by not going back for you and you should have never been left behind at all. Your poor fucking family had to- never mind, that’s beside the point. Anyway. It’s done now and it can’t be changed, but please know that nobody else in this house shares that asshole’s opinions.” He said earnestly and Darcy blinked back tears as Bucky’s breathing hitched against her back. God, her brother, ladies and gentlemen. Such an ass but such a good man. Apparently, being out, proud and in love had done wonders for his social skills. She wasn’t actually sure when she’d last heard him say so many words in one conversation; Dylan was always the strong, silent type and Jake had been the mouthy fuck who didn’t know when to stop.

It was nice to finally hear his voice.

Beside him, Kyle cheered quietly. “Here, here!” He cried, beaming. “Nothing but love and potentially platonic butt-pats from here on out.”

Dylan levelled his boyfriend with a playful glare and rolled his eyes. “You are physically incapable of platonic butt-pats, Kyle, don’t be such a skeeze. If you wanna play grab-ass, just out with it. He’s a big boy.”

Kyle flushed prettily and Darcy snorted into her hand when Bucky did the same.

“Well, you can’t really blame a guy, can you?! He’s fucking pretty!” He swept his gaze over Bucky quickly before leering playfully. “And yes, yes he is.”

Darcy whooped with laughter but cast an appreciative look at her boyfriend. “Oh, he _really_ is.” She loved it when he blushed; it made him look younger and softer and she wanted to lick the pink right off his skin every damn time.

If possible, Bucky turned an even darker, prettier shade of red and averted his gaze towards the row of wall mounted photographs across the room. He cleared his throat and covered the open space in three long strides and studied the pictures with an intense interest. “When was this taken, again?” He tapped his fingers against an old faded picture of Darcy in a bright red leotard and devil horns, her curly hair all over the place and a big cheesy grin on her face. “Is that a pitch fork, Princess?”

“Nice, Sweetie, very smooth change of subject. I applaud you for your ingenuity.” She gave him a slow golf clap and he studiously ignored her sarcasm, hands behind his back.

“Shut up, Darcy Anne.” He replied casually, voice even and light. “Are you gonna tell me about these pictures or are we revisiting our earlier aborted conversation about your ex?”

She hurried over to his side and peered up at the picture he was gesturing to with a sense of renewed interest. “Let’s see, in this one, I was almost five and we were at a family Halloween party,” she pointed to another where she was wearing a bright orange pumpkin costume and dragged him along behind her, “And in this one…”

 

**

Darcy could feel Dylan’s eyes on her as she aimed her laser focused concentration on the potato in her left hand, the vegetable peeler in her right. It was a terrifying thing, the peeler and she moved carefully as she ran it over the potato, her memories of taking shreds off her fingers just as clear now as the multiple times it had happened in the past. She hated it and tried to dump it in the garbage every time she came to visit but somehow her mother always knew and had a spare identical one as a backup. Her fingers were grubby from the starch and she wrinkled her nose as she dipped it into the bowl of clean water to rinse it before handing it off to her brother to slice.

“Three to go,” she told him, reaching for the next potato and he hummed at her, distracted.

Laughter sounded from the table and the siblings glanced back to briefly smile at their respective boyfriends holding court with their Grams before turning back to their task. Bucky, of course, was a fucking hit with her Grams; the older woman had spent an inordinate amount of time gushing over his divine cheekbones and jawline and Bucky had taken the attention with a grace and dignity that she didn’t even know he possessed. He’d only blushed once. His smile was charming and warm and she might have cried a little bit (only on the inside, but not really) when her Grams had pulled him into an impromptu waltz around the small kitchen claiming that men just didn’t know how to dance properly these days and he’d spun her around the room with a practiced ease that had taken her breath away and made her heart swell. He was captivating to watch and she felt more than a little silly to admit to herself that she had actually thought of him as captivating in the first place. This wasn’t a romantic comedy, Jesus.

Still. So fucking pretty and why on earth hadn’t she ever danced with him before?

Kyle had swooned and Dylan had to remind him to put his eyes back in his head and lose the heart-eyes, this wasn’t an anime, Kyle, stop mooning over the man, Kyle. The little blonde had gone scarlet and stuttered and stammered but the indulgent, amused smile on Dylan’s face had quickly shut him up and Kyle had happily flipped him off and declared that he was officially sleeping on the sofa for the rest of the week. Also, they were taking dance classes because it was hotter than it had any right to be.

He had a point.

Her mother was still noticeably absent, as was her other brother. There was the occasional burst of shouting from the back yard but as yet they hadn’t come back inside and the nausea she felt as she worried about what would come out of Jake’s mouth next was starting to make her feel unwell. She didn’t even want to look at him again, let alone sit across from him at the table and pretend she was thankful for him existing.

He was poisonous and though he was her brother, and yes, she loved him because she felt like she sort of had to, she didn’t like him and she definitely didn’t want to breathe the same air as him. She just wanted him to go away and never speak to her again.

Her hand slipped as she swiped the peeler over the potato and she let out a sharp curse and flung her hand out to the side, shaking it for all it was worth. “Every fucking time!” She swore with a wince. “God! I hate this piece of shit!” She threw the peeler into the steel sink basin and flipped on the water, rinsing the cut on her finger. Across the room a wooden chair screeched against the polished floorboards and she knew before anything was said or done that it was Bucky on his feet. “I’m fine,” she tossed back over her shoulder, halting him in his tracks, “Just a scratch.” He lowered himself back into his seat and she made sure he couldn’t see her face when she winced.

She poked at the cut and bared her teeth in a show of silent discomfort. Yeah, it wasn’t just a scratch, more of a thick flap of torn skin but he didn’t need to know that. He’d fuss and fret and she was fine. It was nothing she hadn’t done to herself before.

Dylan reached across in front of her and took her by the wrist, wrapped a wadded up bundle of paper towel around her finger and squeezed tightly. It stung and she bit back a swear to glance up at him. He looked down at her, blue eyes a couple of shades darker than her own accusing and stern. He was annoyed at her about something, she knew enough to be able to tell that much and she quirked her eyebrow at him in question.

“You haven’t told him about The Prick yet, have you.” It wasn’t a question, more of a resigned yet irked statement and she paled under his gaze. He let out a long suffering sigh and rolled his eyes, peeled the paper back to check if the bleeding had stopped and wrapped it back up when he saw the cut still oozing. “You need to tell him sometime, Darcy,” he scolded and she felt all of twelve years old again, caught steeling a dollar bill out of his wallet when he was home from college. All she’d wanted was a candy bar and Jake had liberated her allowance for God knew what; as soon as Dylan had heard that he’d snatched the dollar from her and given her a ten instead. Jake had a black eye the next day but never admitted to where he’d gotten it and she’d never asked.

Dylan had gone back to college the week after and Jake never took her allowance again after that. It was with a startling realization that she understood how great Dylan had been all along, she just hadn’t noticed. He didn’t think she was a burden or a pain, he’d just been a seriously unhappy young man and she felt guilty that she’d never even noticed his misery.

She bit her lip and tried to pass off the tears in her eyes as a direct result of her cut finger but he wasn’t buying it and he made sure to stand close enough to keep their conversation semi-private. There was only so much one could do about that in a kitchen as small as her mother’s.

“Darcy,” he prompted gently, “He deserves to know.”

She shook her head slightly and kept her chin down, refused to look at him. “It doesn’t matter now,” she argued, “It’s in the past and it doesn’t matter. I’m happy, he’s happy, leave it alone.”

Dylan’s gaze on her felt like an itch that she just couldn’t scratch, no matter how hard she tore at her skin. He was glaring now and she kept her mouth shut stubbornly as she pulled her hand free and searched through the drawers for a band-aid. He didn’t speak until she had the wrapper open and was fighting with the paper backing one handed. He sighed and took it from her, carefully wrapping her finger before tossing the garbage.

“You might be happy,” he observed, “-and I don’t doubt that you are, you fucking glow around the guy, but don’t you think he’s going to notice how you always end up with migraines in the winter that leave you practically blind with pain and unable to open your mouth enough to eat solid food?”

She silently willed him to stop talking. She knew that Bucky would and could hear every damn word that came out of his mouth and had almost certainly started listening to their hushed conversation as soon as he’d started questioning her and she didn’t want to ruin the mood. Everyone was having a good time so far and if her less than savory dating history came out now it would ruin everything.

“That doesn’t happen anymore,” she half-lied. “I had surgery to fix the mandible years ago and I barely even get migraines anymore. Please,” she pleaded, her voice quiet and desperate, “Just leave it alone, Dylan. Please?”

He stared at her intently for a moment, glanced over towards the table then back at her. “If that’s what you want,” he started and her shoulders sagged in relief, “But I have a feeling his hearing is better than average because he’s giving you one hell of a stink eye right now.” He whispered.

Fuck.

“James Buchanan Barnes, stop making like Dumbo!” She snapped without raising her voice or turning to face him. He’d hear her and he would adopt a contrite look, as usual, and she could go on pretending that her brother didn’t have a big fat mouth. “It’s rude to eavesdrop.”

His reply was a lot closer than she thought it would be and she felt the warm puff of his breath against the side of her face. His arms bracketed around her and he pressed up against her back, warm and steady and safe.

And very, very tense.

“It’s not eavesdropping if it’s unintentional, Princess.” He reasoned, voice purposely light. Shit, he didn’t sound contrite at all. His grip tightened on the edge of the counter top either side of her and he pressed closer. “Dare I ask, or are we still not talking about this?”

She pursed her lips and after a beat of hesitation she reached for the potato she had dropped when she cut herself and picked up the peeler again. He wrestled both items out of her hands and pushed her aside silently to take over, face carefully neutral and she felt a flutter (or a whole damn herd of elephants worth) of guilt in her belly when she saw it.

He was upset and it was her fault. Nobody else would be any the wiser, but she knew him and she knew that he was.

She pressed herself up against his side and kissed the ball of his shoulder, sunk her hand under the back of his shirt and laid her palm flat against the small of his back. “After dinner.” She told him and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and gave her a doubtful frown. She nodded slightly and nuzzled his arm. The muscle flexed under her nose and she lay her head against it, eyes closed. “I promise, Bucky. After dinner.”

He didn’t pause in his task, merely handed the peeled vegetable off to her silent brother and started on the next one. “You’ve never broken a promise to me before today, Darcy,” he commented quietly, “Don’t you dare make one you don’t plan to keep. I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.”

“I promise, Bucky.”

He sighed and shook his hair back out of his face and gave her a gentle nudge with his shoulder. “Go sit with your Grams and Kyle.” He told her. “I’ll finish here. Don’t need a girl with missin’ fingers, do I?” He teased gently, even if his smile was strained. “I’ve got the monopoly on that one.”

She pulled a face and a lifted up onto her toes to kiss him. “You might be onto something,” She admitted, “I’d hate to think how it would adversely affect you if that happened.”

He hummed against her lips and drew back, threw her a wink and bumped her off towards the table. “God forbid.”

**

“BOYS!!”

Darcy pressed closer to Bucky’s back and peered around him, her hands twisted in his shirt in the middle of his back and she took in the scene with wide, frightened eyes.

Dylan was standing in the middle of the kitchen, his hand fisted in the neck of Jake’s shirt with the other drawn back mid-air, ready to punch him square in the face. He looked furious and she wasn’t sure she had ever, ever seen him this angry. He was practically vibrating on the spot and his teeth were bared as he loomed over his little brother.

“You’re seriously doing this?” Jake goaded with a sneer, almost as if he wasn’t hanging from his big brother’s fist. He struggled a little but when he couldn’t break free he let out a feral snarl. “What the fuck happened to you, huh?” He cast a dirty look in Kyle’s direction and snorted derisively. “The fucking fairy suck all the common sense right outta your damn dick or something?! I am your brother – he’s just-“

“Don’t you finish that sentence.” Dylan snarled, voice dark as he shook him and unbeknownst to him, Darcy’s mother ushered their Grams out of the room. It felt like they were standing in the middle of a ticking time bomb and it was about to blow at any given second. She clutched at Bucky with one hand and frantically reached for Kyle, dragging him behind the solid wall of her boyfriend as soon as he grabbed her hand. Bucky’s arm whirred to life in front of her and she stroked his back in an effort to keep him grounded. He was gearing up for a fight, she knew it. As soon as Jake had flung himself into the kitchen with heavy, stomping feet he’d been in front of her and protecting her (and everyone else at the table, mind you) from her own damn brother’s temper tantrum.

Apparently, something her mother had said to him outside had hit a nerve and he was cursing and spitting and raging at the lot of them.

“Seriously you two, knock it off!” He mother insisted, looking from one to the other. “Dylan, put him down; he was just leaving anyway. Boys, I’m serious – ENOUGH!”

Neither of them were listening and Bucky’s spine grew rigid as he noticed just how close to the potential violence she actually was. She was right in the middle of it and Darcy knew that if either of the men kicked off then she could easily be hurt. She loosened her fingers and gave him a permissive nudge, urged him to move and he did so without question. Her mother was hauled off her feet with a squawk and dumped behind him in a blink but neither of her brothers even noticed. Darcy hurried to drag her closer to herself and Kyle. This could get ugly and whilst Bucky would be more than fine, they wouldn't. She had to keep them close and away from the powder keg that was her brothers’ current argument.

Jake didn’t seem to know how to quit when he was ahead and started mouthing off again. “What are you gonna do, asshole? Hit me? Go on, go ahead. Fuck knows you’re not man enough to kick the shit outta your own brother over some goddamn twink-” Dylan’s fist made contact before he could finish and he spat blood out onto the floor, head hung off to the side and dazed. He worked his jaw, eyes wide and livid and he tongued at the inside of his cheek. He glared up at Dylan and jerked his chin at him. His voice was low and arrogant and she and everyone else in the room knew that he was goading Dylan. “You hit like a fucking woman.” He spat, eyes only widening a fraction as Dylan lifted his hand into the air to hit him again.

Bucky’s hand curled around his wrist and held firm. A warning. “You don’t want to do this,” he soothed. “Mama said he was leavin’, so let him leave. You don’t have to see him ever again once he’s out that door. You _don’t_ wanna do this, Dylan.” He repeated.

Dylan seemed to hesitate and his fist loosened enough for Jake to drop onto the flats of his feet instead of his toes and he gave his shoulders a jerky shake as he tugged on his shirt. He spat another glob of blood onto the floor and sneered at them, expression mocking and infuriating. He had no idea just how hard he was poking the bear; Bucky’d wanted to floor him since he’d opened his mouth upon arrival.

“You’re pathetic,” Jake accused, looking at them wild eyed. “Both of you. _You’re_ nothing but a shameful abomination and you,” he turned to look at Bucky and Darcy’s breath caught in her chest. “You will never be anything more than a glorified attack dog. Good for one thing and not even deserving a fucking bullet between the eyes for your efforts. You play at being a real boy,” he mocked, “You pretend that you’re human but you’re nothing but a broken toy that nobody even wanted in the first place.” He glanced at her and his smile grew darker, sinister and mean. “She’s only fucking you because she pities you, you know. That’s what she does; spreads her legs and takes it for her country like the patriot she is. She’s not capable of loving anyone but herself, so don’t think you’re anything special.”

Darcy cried out in anger and hurt at his savage tirade and didn’t even have the chance to get a word out before Jake hit the wall behind him, his head bouncing once, twice and he let out a choked grunt of pain. Bucky’s metal fingers were curled around his neck and his face was inches from Jakes.

“I’ve heard a lot of things in my time,” he stated conversationally, terrifyingly calm, “And yeah, most’a what you just said is true. I _am_ a glorified attack dog, and yeah, I’ve _definitely_ killed people because it was just something fun to do and I _probably_ deserve to be put down,” he shrugged easily and his mouth curled into a smile that would look right at home on a great white shark, all sharp teeth and dead eyed, “But you talk about her that way and all bets are off. She’s your _sister,_ not some common two-bit whore so you’d best keep your fucking mouth shut or I’ll shut it for you.” He cut him off when he opened his mouth and silver fingers curled tighter around his neck, his face growing splotchy from lack of air. “I said, _keep. Your mouth. Shut_.” He leaned in close, quiet and full of promise. “If you dare try to open it again, I will happily rip off your bottom jaw and feed it to you via the gaping hole in your wretched face. It _might_ even be fun. So,” He lowered him to the floor and planted a filthy kiss firm on his mouth, absolutely delighted by the enraged disgust that swept over Jake’s face. He pat him on the cheek with his free hand and very deliberately let him free from the other. “Don’t look at her. Don’t speak to her. Don’t even try to apologize to her, even though we both know you wouldn’t bother anyway. Just _leave_. Off you go, Pretty. _Shoo_.” He snapped his teeth at him and Jake scrambled past him still scrubbing at his mouth with his sleeve, hurried down the hall and out the door without a backwards glance.

The tension in the room was so thick that you could have used a chainsaw to saw through it and nobody was game enough to speak. Bucky was still turned towards the wall, shoulders rigid and straight, hands at his sides and Dylan was hovering in the middle of the room, eyes wide and distraught. Her Mama was crying silently, humiliated and hurt by her son’s behavior and her hand was covering her mouth. Darcy was desperate to go to Bucky but stayed put for the time being. Everyone seemed to be in a state of shock.

“Jesus,” Kyle muttered after a fraught moment, “Are family dinners always like this or was that a special performance for the new guys?”

Darcy shot him a frantic, wide eyed glance and Dylan shook his head, hand held up palm first. “Not now, Kyle.” He had one eye on his boyfriend, the other on hers. “Bucky,” he called warily. “Are you with us?” He didn’t move any closer, kept his distance and for that Darcy was glad, but he tried again and this time his voice was a little louder, firmer. “ _Barnes_ , I need an answer. Are you with us?”

It took a moment but she saw a finger twitch, then his head cocked and he rolled his shoulders. “I need to talk to Darcy,” he said in lieu of answering her brother. “Now.” He was still facing the wall and Dylan moved to stop her when she started towards him.

She looked at her brother’s hand on her arm and carefully pulled free. “He won’t hurt me, Dylan. He’s _not_ going to hurt me.” She assured quietly, squeezing his fingers. “Put some ice on your hand or it’ll swell.”

He frowned but let her go and watched after her as she guided Bucky out the back door and into the yard.

Best get this over with, then.

 

 

 

 


	3. Sharing is Caring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pinch of angst, a dash of fluff and voila!! A new chapter!!
> 
> Sorry for the wait!!!

“I’m going back to New York.”

Darcy’s breath stuttered to a stop and she gaped at him, wide eyed and blindsided. “What the actual fuck, Bucky?!” She’d expected him to grill her on her ex when he’d asked her to come outside with him, not this. Her eyes misted up and her chest hurt from the cold afternoon air, or maybe it was from him proclaiming he was leaving. She shook her head wildly and struggled to even compute where this was coming from. “Why?!” She cried as she reached for his forearm. He snatched it out of her reach and she recoiled, hurt. “Bucky,” her voice was almost a whisper and wobbly as fuck. “Why?”

He stared out over the wide expanse of the back yard and there was a quiet whir as his arm recalibrated and shifted under his shirt. “You’re honestly asking me that right now?” He shook his head and grit his teeth, the muscle in his cheek jumping under pressure. “After everything that just happened, you’re asking me why I’m goin’ home?!” There was an edge to his voice, anger and hurt and something else she couldn’t quite place that made her feel sick. “This was a mistake.”

She screwed up her face miserably and pressed the heels of her palms against her burning eyes. Tears were already leaking down her cheeks and she made a quiet sound of distress. God, this was all her fault. She never should have brought him here in the first place. She should have known that her brother would do something to ruin things, he always did, always had ever since she’d broken up with his best friend and tried to move on. She’d been lying to herself and everybody else when she’d claimed he wasn’t outright awful to her; he was mean, nasty and insulting to boot and that was being polite. He took it as some kind of personal insult that she didn’t want his friend’s possessive, abusive ass and every time she thought she might have met someone nice, even just a friend, he would swoop in and fuck it all to hell. She should have known he would do the same thing with Bucky. She supposed she should be used to it by now, Jake ruining her life, but then all the other times he’d scared off her friends it hadn’t hurt this much either. She really thought that maybe, just maybe, Bucky was The One; it was the main reason she’d wanted her Grams to meet him. She wanted the most important people in her life to approve of him. To love him as much as she did. But then, of course, Jake strikes again and now by the looks of things, Darcy was down a boyfriend.

Unable to hold it in any longer, she let out a low sob but tried her best to stifle it with her hand. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled through her hand, her chest tight and heavy, “God, Bucky, I’m so sorry.” The tears were running freely now and her shoulders shook from the force of her grief, eyes screwed shut and heart breaking. He didn’t want her anymore. God, Jake was right. She was defective and he didn’t want to put up with her shit anymore.

He was right; this was a mistake. She never should have brought him here. He didn’t need this kind of bullshit in his life, he had enough going on without her added family drama.

“You’re-” He sounded surprised and his voice was a little higher than usual, a testament to his shock. “ _You’re sorry?!_ What the hell do _you_ have to be sorry about, Darcy?! I’m the one who just-” She could feel his body heat at her side and it just made her cry harder. How was she supposed to sleep without that next to her now? “Shit, Darce, stop cryin’,” he bit out, hands on her shoulders, “If anyone’s apologizin’ it should be me,” He insisted, giving her a little shake. “Will you – _stop fucking crying!_ I’m trying to apologize for being a fucking savage, here!”

She hiccupped painfully and let out a squeak of surprise when she found herself crushed against his chest, his arms tight around her and her feet off the ground. Her arms were pinned at her sides and she wriggled a little but unable to free herself, she merely gripped at his shirt and held on.

“Y-you what?” She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes and hiccupped again, sniffled violently and tried not to get snot on his shirt. She failed miserably, but she tried at least. “You’re not breaking up with me?”

He frowned down at her and curled his lip in confusion. “What?? Why the hell would I do that??”

She kicked her feet aimlessly, still hanging off the ground and tightened her fingers in his shirt. Her eyes were bright and wet from crying and the end of her nose bright red and runny for the same reason. She was an ugly crier. Always had been. “You,” she hiccupped again and huffed, irritated with her own stupid body. They were never going to stop at this rate. “You said it was a mistake..?”

He drew back a little and nodded, brows drawn tight. “Darcy, dating you has _never_ been a mistake,” he explained slowly, “But coming here? Coming here was. I’m not cut out for family life and what just happened inside proves it. Your Mama probably hates me now and I’m not entirely sure you’ll ever see your brother again…”

She curled her lip and sneered at the thought, then scowled. “Good.” She spat. “I hope I never do. What he said was unforgivable and I’m not interested in pretending to like him anymore.”

Bucky blinked at her, surprised and his grip loosened just enough for her to slip to her feet where she quickly took the opportunity to wrap her arms tight around his waist. She buried her face in his chest and breathed in his scent, pulled at him harder until he took the hint and hugged her back.

“Darce,” he started, hesitant and slow, “Darcy, what I said in there- I threatened him and meant every word of it, do you understand?”

She nodded against him and turned her cheek to rest it over his heart. It thumped against her cheek and she relished the feel of it, closed her eyes and counted every beat in her head as she tried to find her words.

“Jake has always been horrible to me,” she admitted quietly, eyes still closed. It would be easier to say what she wanted to say without being able to see the look on his face anyway. “But it got worse after I started dating a friend of his back when I was nineteen.” He stiffened under her cheek but his hands smoothed across her back and held her firmly against him, comforting and safe. “His name was Aaron and he was a college buddy of Jake’s. Older than me. He seemed nice and he was fairly persistent, so I thought why not and agreed to go out on a date with him,” She burrowed closer and her fingers dug into the small of his back, pushed under his shirt and stroked along the raised lines of the scars he had there. He’d told her how he’d gotten them and she’d thrown up afterwards, but she knew that they were still tender after all these years so she was always careful when she touched them. “Dating Aaron was the worst decision of my dating career that I have ever made.”

Bucky shuffled slightly and turned them in a circle so his back was to the railing of the raised deck and he settled against it, quiet and waiting patiently for her to say her piece.

“The first date was ok,” she admitted, “It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either so I didn’t really have a good reason to refuse to go out with him again, you know?” His hands stroked up her spine and she went on, fortified by his gentle touch. “Jake had given him my number by that point and he would call me every day in the morning, just to say hi. To tell me how much he missed me. I thought it was sweet and I thought, hey, this cute guy is interested and wants to spend time with me, so I let it go on. The morning calls turned into morning and afternoon calls and then before I knew what was going on he was calling me before bed too. If I didn’t answer the phone he got angry and if I didn’t want to go out anywhere with him he got even angrier. I didn’t notice at first but he started isolating me from my friends and one by one they just stopped bothering with me until I had none left.” She shrugged helplessly and blinked down at the wooden panels under their feet. “I had classes, I was in college at the time, but he didn’t care and he would get so worked up about me not wanting to spend every minute of every day with him that I was scared to say no in the end and I’d ditch my assignments just to make him happy. To avoid the fighting. When I started failing,” she stopped, hesitated, “When I started failing I tried to put my foot down, told him I couldn’t go out with him all the time and that I needed to knuckle down or else I’d be kicked off my course. He didn’t care. Told me that college wasn’t important anyway because I’d be too busy taking care of him anyway, so why bother? He’d already spoken to my course advisor and told him that I would be withdrawing due to family commitments.”

Bucky made a sound in the back of his throat and his fingers dug in a little but he remained mute. She wasn’t game enough to look at him let alone try to gauge his reaction to her letting herself get pushed into that position. She’d been naïve, young and still reeling from her previous breakup not even six months earlier, even though her first had been an ass in the end and she’d been so swept up by the thought that someone wanted her that she’d let it happen, despite the uneasy feeling she had in her tummy. He’d slowly taken over her life and she’d let him right in the damn door.

“When I found out that he’d done that I lost it,” she could remember the swell of rage and hopelessness, the fear that she was never going to get anywhere in her life if she stayed with him. He was the reason she’d transferred to Culver, desperate to start over. “I screamed at him that he had no right to do that, I threw a lamp at him and tried to toss him out of my apartment but he refused to leave. He was bigger than me and he just planted his feet, started yelling back. I tried to push him out the door but he shoved me back and when I threatened to call the police he hit me.” Her fingers found her jaw and even though she knew that it wasn’t there anymore she could still feel the broken bone and the searing agony that accompanied it snapping under the force of the blow. It had given her hell for months, shit, years, afterwards and eventually she’d worked up the courage to have the revision surgery to fix the damage he’d caused not long before she’d moved to New York. It had hurt less the second time but the pain was easier to deal with because it was her decision to have the surgery and she knew that it would be better in the long run. “When I was on the floor,” she hesitated again, knowing the next part would be harder to say let alone for him to hear. “I was on the floor, dazed and confused and bleeding and he grabbed me by my hair and started to drag me down the hall towards the bedroom. I’d been making excuses about not sleeping with him for months and he was fed up with waiting…”

Bucky’s arms tensed around her and she was quick to soothe him, quick to reassure him that she was alright. She pressed her hand against his rapidly rising and falling chest and hushed him, kissed him over his heart and nuzzled back in to his arms.

“I knew that if he- I didn’t want him like that so I started screaming as loud as I could and my neighbor, Taryn, heard what was going on, sent her boyfriend in ahead of her before he could follow through and when he was busy tearing Aaron a new one – it was beautiful, by the way. Brin was a big guy, bigger than Aaron and had no problem throwing him around  – Taryn dragged me back to her place and locked us in. She called the police and an ambulance and within twenty minutes I was on my way to the hospital and he was in cuffs.”

Bucky swallowed thickly, his hand coming up to rest on the back of her head, fingers tangled in her ponytail. “So, he didn’t…?”

“No,” she shook her head and peered up at him, brought her hands up to pluck at the ends of his hair. He looked positively nauseous at the idea of her being assaulted and her heart swelled with affection for him. His shoulders lost some of their tension at her denial and he turned his head to mouth at the back of her hand, relieved by her answer. “He never got the chance. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t these days if he wanted to, anyway.” She shrugged lightly and smirked at his raised brow. “As Taryn was hauling my beaten ass out of the apartment I’m pretty sure I saw Brin kick him so hard in the dick that he hurled. I mean, I was a bit distracted at the time but I’m almost certain that’s what I saw.”

The thought of Aaron being tossed around like a ragdoll made her smile and it filled her with a warm fuzzy feeling that only came second to curling up in Bucky’s lap at three in the morning to watch funny animal videos when neither of them could sleep.

Bucky was a whore for funny animal videos; her big, bad assassin boyfriend was all about watching dogs fall off the edge of a jetty or run face first into a snow drift. He laughed even harder when she showed him videos of cats running scared from cucumbers or sitting on top of a Roomba wearing a shark costume. He was an odd duck, but he was hers and she adored him.

She was so fucking happy that he wasn’t breaking up with her.

And relieved. So very, very relieved.

“Bucky,” she nudged against him and rose up onto her toes to give him an eskimo kiss. “What happened in there,” she slapped her hand over his mouth when it opened to apologize again, “It shouldn’t have happened. Not the threatening part, but Jake saying all those things. He’s a hateful, mean spirited person and every year the whole family ends up creeping around on eggshells just because we’re afraid to set him off. Really, you did us all a favor.” She explained. “He wouldn’t have left if you hadn’t confronted him about his behavior and personally, I’m glad you did it. So thank you. For standing up for me.”

His expression of distress softened into a frown and he cupped her cheek in his flesh hand, dropped his forehead against hers and sighed. “I’d defend you to the ends of the earth, Darce, you have to know that by now. Stevie is my family, but you,” he kissed her nose, her cheeks and finally her lips. “You, Darcy Anne, are my home. You are everything to me and I won’t stand by and let someone talk about you like that, especially if it’s your own brother.” His eyes flashed angrily and he huffed in anger, a feral scowl on his face. “Who the actual fuck says shit like that about their sister, anyway?! Why the fuck would you even- How could he even think that-“ He crushed her against his chest again and buried his face in her hair. “I’m so fucking sorry, Princess. You didn’t deserve that and I hate that he even thinks that shit about you, let alone says it to other people. He’s got no right.”

Darcy struggled to free her mouth and nose and took a deep breath once she was free, savoring the rush of sweet, sweet oxygen as it flooded her lungs again. “Honey, you’re smothering me,” she gasped and he immediately backed off, hands fluttering around her face checking for signs of distress. She smiled indulgently up at him and ran her fingers across his lip, freeing it from between his teeth. “I don’t want you to go back to New York,” she admitted, brows drawn in, voice low, “-but if you’d be more comfortable going home….”

He sighed and shifted, legs spreading wider so she could step between them and lean into him, his arms around her waist, hands warm on her backside. He braced himself against the deck’s railing and considered his next move. “Darcy, for the most part, I love your family. They’re fun and welcoming and they’re good people,” she could sense a but coming on, “-but, I just made a serious misstep and I’m pretty certain your Mama is gonna want me to leave.”

She ran her fingertips across his shadowed jaw and thumbed underneath his left eye, looked into the icy blue wells and saw how embarrassed he was by his own behavior. She could tell he was afraid he’d fucked it all up, she knew that look well, after all. “Do you want to go home?” She asked diplomatically.

He hesitated for a moment and chose his words carefully. “I want to be where you are.” He answered finally. “Like I said, wherever you are is home and,” he trailed off, expression wary and awkward. He gave her a small shrug and sucked his lip into his mouth, scratched at his chin absently. “I just want to be with you.”

She bounced on her toes and curled her fingers around the back of his neck, practically used his legs as footholds and climbed up his front. “Then we’re staying.” She kissed him full on the mouth and grinned into it when she felt his hands curl underneath her thighs to support her weight, brought her legs up around his hips and clung to him like a monkey to a tree. “We’re gonna go back inside and face the music, ok? Together. If Mama says we need to leave, we leave, but until then stop borrowing trouble, Baby. It’s gonna be alright.” She kissed the frown lines on his forehead and nuzzled his cheek. “We’re gonna be fine.”

“I wish I had your optimism,” he mumbled, the frown on his face set in for the duration. “She might be little, but the thought of upsetting your Grams is terrifying, just in case you haven’t noticed. She reminds me of my Ma.” His shoulders shook and he shuddered a little. “That woman was wonderful but god forbid you piss her off; I can still hear her hollerin’ at me for breakin’ one of the dishes that she got as a wedding present.”

Darcy giggled and pet his face to soothe the distress she saw there. “She yelled at you for breaking a plate?”

He harrumphed and shot her a wide eyed look of incredulity. “Plates were expensive, Princess! You couldn’t just mosey on into your local Walmart and pick up a new set for five bucks, could you?! They were some kind of fancy fine china from England and us kids weren’t even allowed to breathe near ‘em let alone touch ‘em!” He winced at the memory. “God, she had a set of lungs on her. I was still searchin’ for a replacement set for her well into adulthood. Even searched London up and down during the war.”

“How traumatizing for you,” she cooed with a giggle. “Did you ever find any?”

He rolled his shoulders and pulled a face. “Nah. Can’t even remember who made ‘em now. Alls I know is that they were sort of white with blue patterns all over ‘em. I got nothin’ else.”

She hummed thoughtfully and filed the information away for a later date (and made a mental note to talk to a certain super soldier who possessed an eidetic memory about it) and slithered her way down his front and onto her feet. “We should go back in,” she tugged at him and shot him a long suffering look when he cringed and hesitated. “Man up, Barnes,” she scolded playfully. “Remember what I said?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes but let her drag him along behind her this time. “Don’t borrow trouble,” he parroted dully. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

She squeezed his hand in a show of support and pulled him towards the back door. “It’ll be fine. Stress less.”

“Easy for you to say,” he grumbled, “They’re your family.”

“They’re yours too, now, you know,” she smiled to herself when she felt him stumble behind her, shocked at the mere thought of being accepted so easily into the fold, “Lets go see what the damage is so we can hopefully get on with dinner because I am fucking starving.”

“You’re always hungry, Princess.” He laughed, fingers tangling with hers.

She rolled her eyes and reached for the back door. “Pfft! Says you.”

 

**

 As it turned out, Bucky was indeed borrowing trouble. As soon as they’d stepped back inside into the kitchen her Mama had let out a relieved cry and virtually threw herself at him when she saw their tangled fingers and Dylan, Kyle and her Grams had all made a huge show of looking anywhere but at them. They were all suspiciously close to the small window by the back door and when Darcy peeked out of it she couldn’t help but notice that it gave a clear view of the exact spot where she and Bucky had been standing moments before. The sneaky sneaks had been spying on them.

Her Mama was wrapped around Bucky like an octopus and she was murmuring her apologies to him, desperately embarrassed by what her son had said and done and hasty to reassure him that he’d done nothing wrong himself.

“I swear I don’t even know where his attitude comes from,” She bemoaned miserably. “He’s such a bull-headed pain in the ass and I’m pretty sure that I must have done something truly awful in a past life to deserve him in this one.”

Surprisingly, it was their Grams that beat everyone else in the room to the punch. “Oh please, Joanne, that boy has been wretched since he was born.” She spat with an impressive eye roll. Literally, she spat on the floor. God love Italians, but at the same time, ew. She wasn’t cleaning that shit up; Dylan could do it. “The moment that boy learned how to speak it was more than clear that he was a snake, just like that no good father of his. He has some funny ideas and no regard for other peoples feelings and is all about himself.” She waved her hand in the air and jutted her chin out stubbornly. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” She proclaimed. As an aside, she added; “I wrote him out of the will years ago, anyway. He can kiss my wrinkly old ass, the arrogant little fuck.”

Darcy barely managed to avoid choking and Dylan didn’t manage to succeed at all. He was bent at the waist and hugging himself, face red with laughter and eyes glassy with tears. Bucky looked horrified. Not by the fact that Jake had been written out of the will, but by hearing a very well put together ninety something year old woman call her grandson an arrogant little fuck. His wide eyes flitted between Valeria and Darcy and he raised his eyebrows, both of them, at her imploringly.

“Just like Ma.” He reiterated plainly and then let out a sharp, shocked yelp and jumped a good foot in the air, hand flying to rub at his poor abused backside. “ _Not_ like Ma!!” Valeria rubbed her hands together gleefully and nodded sagely.

“Just as firm as I thought it’d be.” She shot him a saucy wink and sniggered loudly when a swathe of bright pink spread across his cheeks and nose. “Tell me, Darcy-Dove, does that blush extend past his collar?”

Kyle perked up across the room where he was topping up a saucepan full of diced potatoes with water. “Oh do tell,” he blurted, eyes gleaming, “Enquiring minds want to know.”

Bucky’s blush deepened and she took pity on him, curled herself around his waist and pat him on the cheek. “It’s alright, Sugar Plum. I’ll protect you from the advances of all these dirty, dirty deviants.” She tossed a look over her shoulder and grinned wickedly before adding, “But yes. Yes it does.”

He let out an outraged sound of embarrassment and shoved at her hands, spluttering indignantly. “A little bit of mystery never killed anyone, Darce!” He chastised, scandalized. “Fucks sake, why don’t you tell ‘em my shoe size and weight whilst you’re at it? Or maybe even which brand of lube I prefer to use, huh?!”

Dylan snorted and barely even glanced up from blitzing down the bread into fine crumbs for the stuffing. “The lubricant might be pushing it a little,” He admitted with a laugh, “But how heavy _are_ you, man? Does the arm add a lot of extra weight?” He skimmed his eyes over the assassin critically. “You look fairly hefty and I’ll bet you’re heavier than you look,” he mused, “Is the prosthetic heavy?”

Bucky blinked at this line of questioning and shook his head slightly, bemused. “Uh, last physical I was pushing two-twenty-five and about twenty pounds of that is the arm alone. The structural supports – collarbone, scapula, shoulder joint itself – are all made of the same material as the arm so that unbalances the left side too. Takes a little bit of compensation.”

Darcy blinked at him, surprised by how forthcoming he was being. He didn’t usually like talking about his arm all that much, in fact, he avoided it if he was able to. “Your bones are all metal on that side too??” She asked, eyes wide and brows up high. “Is it so they’re strong enough to support the weight of the prosthetic?” He never explained any of this to her and it was fascinating, but then she’d never really asked before, either. She didn’t like to prod at the deeper wounds he had for fear of rehashing old traumas.

He picked a bright red cherry tomato out of the salad bowl nearby and popped it into his mouth with a small hum of delight, didn’t even register Dylan taking a swipe at him with the salad tongs. “Mmhmm. It’s fused into my spine and wired into my central nervous system too,” he shrugged lightly, “S’why it hurt so fucking much when I took that EMP blast to the shoulder a while back. It pretty much fried all the circuitry and it was shootin’ pain up my neck an’ straight into my brain. Gave me a fucking migraine, if’m bein’ honest and fine motor control was a bitch for a few days.”

Darcy winced sympathetically and Kyle cocked his head, gaze considering. “If fine motor control was an issue, how did you manage getting yourself off?”

There was a collective burst of noise and whilst Dylan was busy scolding his boyfriend for not understanding boundaries, their Grams was leering at him and her Mama was trying not to snort into her palm. Darcy, however was watching every single little thing that ran through Bucky’s head flit across his face. She knew exactly how he’d gotten himself off; he hadn’t, she’d done it for him.

He cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “I had help.” He replied candidly and Darcy’s cheeks flamed in surprise but she quickly demurred.

“Just doing my civic duty, Sarge.”

He cocked his eyebrow at her and mouthed ‘Sarge?’, his gaze turned appreciative and he hummed to himself. “Your service is recognized and noted, Miss Lewis. A plus for effort.” He practically purred, his voice low and rough and Kyle almost dropped the saucepan on his way to the stove. He swore colorfully and set it down with a clang, lit the burner and thrust his hands onto his hips and pouted.

“It’s polite to warn people before you engage in verbal foreplay,” he huffed, put upon but far from offended. His tone was playful yet mocking and he scolded them with a shaking finger. “Honestly, there are innocent ears in this room and-”

“Oh, please,” Dylan interrupted him and whipped a dish towel at him, snapping him against the hip. “You haven’t been innocent since you were fifteen and Jenny O’Donnel deflowered you behind the bike sheds at school.”

Kyle winced and tugged at his collar, cringing. “Ugh, God, don’t remind me. First and only woman I’ve slept with and thanks, but no thanks. Never again.”

Bucky snorted and popped another cherry tomato into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “What is it about women you don’t like?” He asked, genuinely interested in the colorful man’s answer. He’d known plenty of gay men in his life, but the majority of them were closeted and weren’t willing to discuss their preferences with anyone, let alone their Sergeant. Steve was different; he was a candid fucker, but he had no strict preference so long as the other person was warm and willing. Steve just liked sex, full stop. He’d always been a little deviant and the serum has only exacerbated his libido. “Feel free to tell me to shut my mouth, m’just curious is all. Is it the boobs or the lack of facial hair or what?”

Kyle shrugged and his nose crinkled as he mulled over the question. “I mean, objectively I can admire their form, I guess. Women are beautiful and their boobs make great pillows,” He huffed in amusement when Bucky nodded sagely, “But they’re just too soft for me. Curves are lovely, don’t get me wrong, people like what they like, but personally I like myself a big, strong man with a set of shoulders that would barely even fit through a barn door.” He leered at both his boyfriend and Bucky, they both fit the bill and he shot Darcy an admiring smirk. “Aren’t we a lucky pair?”

She giggled and bumped him with her hip, settled against the counter beside him to admire the valiant attempt Bucky was making not to blush. “Oh yeah,” she agreed, “Although, objectively speaking,” she borrowed the term with a grin, “-whilst I know my brother isn’t ugly, I’d really rather not have to ever think about you climbing him like a tree ever again. It’s weird, but I’m sure you understand.”

Kyle nodded eagerly. “Yeah, totally. You don’t want to think about your brother sexing me up and I’m happy to mentally undress your boyfriend every time he walks into the room, deal?”

Bucky spluttered and the blush he’d been fighting flared to life. Darcy let out a bright, chiming laugh and strolled over to him, pulled at his collar and peered down his shirt. “Oh, it totally covers his chest, alright,” she giggled, eyes glittering up at him. “Can I lick it? Tell me I can lick the pink right off your skin?”

He settled his hands on her hips and swallowed thickly, wet his lips with his tongue and absently offered to help with carving the turkey when the time came. He shot her warning glance and after a long moment of contemplation he bit his lip and his head ticked to the side ever so slightly, enough for her to notice but not enough for anyone else to. He gave her the slightest nod, a silent permission to do her damndest later, and turned his attention back towards the conversation with her brother and his boyfriend that had thankfully shifted off topic and they were now arguing over the merits of brussel sprouts versus green beans.

“I don’t care how good they taste with bacon and nutmeg, Kyle,” Bucky muttered in disgust, “I’d rather stuff a brick of semtex down my pants and hand the detonator to a hyperactive toddler than eat brussel sprouts ever again in my life. Do you have any idea how vile those things are on their own when they’re boiled and pretty much all you get given for a solid two months?! There’s a reason you need to add bacon and nutmeg to the damn things, Kyle. You’re in denial and you need an intervention. You’re on a slippery slope, man; next thing you’ll be tellin’ me you eat curly kale for the taste and you buy it in bulk to make smoothies every morning.”

Kyle looked at him with affront. “How could you even - you take that back, you heathen!”

Bucky smiled serenely at him and absently stroked at Darcy’s hips, the weight of his hands warm and comforting, the touch affectionate. “If it looks like a hipster and eats like a hipster…” he trailed off and Kyle squawked in outrage and threw a pot holder at him. “Naw, look at him all flustered and angry-like,” he teased, “Just like a wet kitten in a paper bag…”

Kyle blustered and waved a very insistent one fingered salute at him. “Fuck you very much, Barnes.”

Bucky fluttered his eyelashes at him and blew him a kiss. “Now, now, Kyle,” he teased, “It aint polite to flirt with someone else’s boyfriend in front of your own – especially when someone else’s boyfriend happens to belong to the sister of your boyfriend. Feels a little incestuous to me.”

“God, why are you ruining my life, Barnes?! You can’t tell me what to do!”

Bucky’s eyes widened innocently, bright blue and guileless. “I wouldn’t dare,” he insisted, offended. “That’s all Dylan’s job anyway.”

Kyle’s outrage melted into a look of sheer smug amusement. “Oh, you delightfully naïve man,” he tutted. “You’re sorely mistaken if you think that _I’m_ the one who enjoys being bossed around.”

“ _Oh my fucking God_ ,” Dylan moaned, mortified. “Can we go back to the part where Barnes was telling us what kind of lube he favors? _Please?_ God, Kyle, I can’t take you anywhere, can I? Why would you tell people shit like that?!” He flushed almost purple and the mortification doubled. “Holy shit, you fucking prat – that’s my _grandmother_ over there! How could you even?!”

Bucky cackled into Darcy’s hair until he started to choke, his big shoulders shaking with laughter and his arm wrapped around his waist as he muttered ‘it hurts, god I’m so happy it hurts!’ under his breath and wiped honest to god tears of amusement away from his eyes. 

Darcy surreptitiously smudged a couple of tears of her own away though they were there for an entirely different reason. She’d never seen Bucky so at ease with people he’d just met and she was beyond happy that her family, the ones who counted anyway, seemed to like him just as much as he liked them. She glanced across the room to where her Mama was ranting about oversharing and why would she need to know that her son is a bottom, damn it, and her Grams caught her eye and nodded towards Bucky. Darcy glanced at him – he was bent over leaning on the counter by now, face flushed and happy and eyes a sparkling, arctic blue as he traded innuendo laced insults with Kyle – and then back to her Grams, brow lifted in question. Her Grams pressed her hands together over her heart and nodded and Darcy almost burst into elated tears.

Grams liked him; she approved of Darcy’s choice and would support them wholeheartedly.

Maybe, she thought as she shot her grandmother a bright, watery smile, maybe bringing him home wasn’t a mistake after all. Bucky turned to look at her and met her gaze with a look that screamed affection and adoration before he was dragged back into conversation with her brother and now her Mama and she decided that no, bringing him home wasn’t a mistake at all.

 


End file.
